Keith Meister Sells 235,000 Shares of Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN) Stock

Key Points

• Illumina director Keith Meister sold 235,000 shares on June 1 at an average price of $163.63, for proceeds of about $38.45 million. The sale cut his ownership by 7.67%.
• ILMN shares were trading near their 52-week high, rising 0.9% to $164.40, just below the one-year peak of $165.97. Trading volume also came in above average.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $1.15 EPS and $1.09 billion in revenue for the quarter, while analysts now expect about $5.2 EPS for the current year. Recent analyst commentary remains mixed, though Guggenheim raised its target to $180 and kept a Buy rating.

Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) Director Keith Meister sold 235,000 shares of Illumina stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $163.63, for a total transaction of $38,453,050.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,830,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $463,146,860.76. This trade represents a 7.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Illumina Stock Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:ILMN traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $164.40. 2,190,450 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,870,323. Illumina, Inc. has a one year low of $78.79 and a one year high of $165.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $133.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.09. The company has a market cap of $24.87 billion, a PE ratio of 29.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.50.

Illumina (NASDAQ:ILMN - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The life sciences company reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.10. Illumina had a return on equity of 31.01% and a net margin of 19.42%.The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.07 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Illumina has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.150-5.300 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Illumina, Inc. will post 5.2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ILMN. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Illumina by 113.7% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,284 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,940 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Illumina in the second quarter worth about $621,000. CW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Illumina in the second quarter worth about $275,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Illumina by 49.0% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 59,645 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $5,691,000 after buying an additional 19,618 shares during the period. Finally, Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Illumina by 30.9% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 7,404 shares of the life sciences company's stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 1,748 shares during the period. 89.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Illumina News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Illumina this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim raised its price target on Illumina to $180 from $170 and kept a Buy rating, signaling continued confidence in the company’s upside potential and valuation. Benzinga article
• Positive Sentiment: Integrated DNA Technologies said its oncology research workflows are now optimized on Illumina software, which could support broader adoption of Illumina’s ecosystem and strengthen its positioning in cancer research tools. Business Wire article
• Neutral Sentiment: Chief accounting officer Scott D. Ericksen sold a small number of shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan; while routine, it adds to recent insider selling activity. SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Director Keith A. Meister sold a very large block of Illumina shares in multiple transactions around May 28-June 1, reducing his stake materially. Large insider sales can weigh on sentiment even when they do not necessarily reflect operational weakness. SEC filing

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ILMN. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Illumina from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Illumina from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup boosted their price target on Illumina from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Illumina from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada began coverage on shares of Illumina in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.38.

Illumina Company Profile

Illumina, Inc NASDAQ: ILMN is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and markets integrated systems for the analysis of genetic variation and function. Headquartered in San Diego, California and founded in 1998, Illumina offers a range of sequencing and array-based technologies used by academic researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, consumer genomics firms and agricultural researchers to enable discovery, translational research and clinical applications.

The company's product portfolio includes next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms and associated consumables, microarrays for genotyping and methylation analysis, library preparation kits and targeted assays.

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